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River Cow Dung And Ivor’s Olive by Allan Liddle

Following on a little from last month’s Tutorial (November 2016 Cow Dung Hopper) I thought I’d offer up the wee river version mentioned in the text, along with a wee ‘Alternative Olive’, so you’re getting two for the rice of one.

This is a very simple pattern and one that’s worked for me pretty well over the years when the natural Cow Dung flies have been present (worth noting that it’s been successful even when I’ve not noted any adults on the water)

Really easy to tie with essentially only two materials required (three if you count the hook) but it can be a little more than one for ‘Emergency Use’ only, given a slight change in thread colour to red makes this pattern a not-too-shabby olive as well. Don’t ask me why the thread change to red should work (if anything you’d expect the original yellow thread, or a switch to medium or even light olive to be more in line with naturals) it just does.

Originally I got this wee pattern from an old friend of mine, Ivor Young, who had been gifted a yellow grizzle hackle some years previous and had tied up the red bodied version more by experiment than for any real purpose. However he used it one day in big dirty water on the Tweed and it worked, so in turn I tried it with equal success on my more northern favoured rivers with equal success. (Especially in big coloured water). The only other concession I made from Ivor’s original is the trimming of the hackle under the hook as I prefer a nice ‘low riding’ profile, however try both as ‘full dressed’ can be pretty successful as well.

Ivor’s Olive has also been successful on lochs as well and it was in the yellow garb that I first tried it as a Cow Dung imitation with a little bit of success. However, as good as it was on running water, the Hopper version totally out-fished it on the lochs and vice versa so I simply have some of each to suit the venue and occasion.

So there you have it, easy and straightforward and all three worth a ‘swim’ at least, I’m sure you’ll not be disappointed.